Yeah, we are generally very fond of silence. If you're in a room full of silent Finns, it means you have probably earned a place in their circle as a member of it, not that of an complete ousider. Finns often enjoy each others precense without the need of filling the air with noise to distract you from something. Nudity is in a way similar, we all are nude underneath the clothes, so having a situation where everyone is naked and just chilling in the sauna or sitting on a bench ouside cooling off is just time for casual talking or silent meditation. In the sauna there's no need to pretend to be something. There's no signs of status, everyone is a person in their bare form. And this allows you to enjoy the quiet and calm enviroment, away from the rush of everyday life. Rules, especially in traffic, might not safe you from accident, but if you're the one adhering to them you're less likely to be blamed for the accident. Kinda protecting your own hide there. Also, most people follow rules out of respect and trust for the goverment and law enforcement.

I do walk on red lights if there ain't traffic or I can see that I can easily cross over. With exception when there are small children at the same time, like a group of kinder garden kids. Then I will wait till the lights turn green. I guess I'm trying to show some good example.

@Nemendril

7 ай бұрын

Same, I always look if there are children around before I cross red. Because they've been told you shoulnd't and that's a bad example for the young ones.

@timorautiainen1783

7 ай бұрын

​@@Nemendril Walking through the red lights just would undermine the people who have tought them not to cross when red is on. They will learn when to cross during red lights with age anyways :D. Also I do hide my smoke in my palm also if there is kinder garden group coming towards me, example of good behaviour not to smoke.

As far as the nudity goes, as someone of Finnish descent and born in a part of Minnesota with a much higher than average Finnish demographic, I was raised in the Finnish sauna culture (we had one, as did many other people in the area.). Taking sauna sans any clothing was normal even when visiting other people's homes, so I thought nothing of it. Then we moved out West. I was just at that age where they started having you dress down for Physical Ed class, and it seemed odd that many of my classmates seemed uncomfortable undressing in front of others. It wasn't until later that I realized that they just had not been raised with the same attitude towards it as I had.

If someone talks small talk to a Finn, they think he's a weird babbler

It's for tracking tax evasion, and transparency so people know anyone isn't given special treatment salary for their position. 4:42 I find this amusing, think how distant we are as species of our natural state, how we are born, well us Finns aren't but most of the "civilized" world. Being self concious about nudity in public just goes to show how backwards our society has gone in some places in my opinion.

I was with my Sister years ago in Helsinki, Itäkeskus, eastern parts of the city, late winter sunday evening. We were returning rented videos to video store and were heading back to the bus stop. Zero cars in sight, no traffic. Walked towards red Light. Of course Police car saw and stopped us... They gave us a warning 😂

Funny thing about the silence in a group thing is that it is more likely to happen if there is a new person in the group and even more likely if that person doesn't speak Finnish. When there is a new person in the mix it is sometimes harder to come up meaningful topics that would include the new person and also even tough Finns have descent English many are shy about using it making the silences last even longer. Strangely enough the silence is most likely due to consideration of trying not to accidentally exclude anyone from discussion although sometimes Finns just like to be silent. Easiest way to break the silence if its too much to handle is to ask a question that cant be answered with a simple yes or no. Those kinds of questions will often spark a longer discussion.

From a Finn :D 1. Taxes: We get a lot of things, that we take as a granted, so no complaints from me, although it is high from my salary. I value equality in society, because it makes our country very happy as a whole. I truly hope everyone that is able would contribute. 2. Nudity: Used to it from childhood, but I get that adults can feel awkward taking a sauna together. For a Finn, it is funny to see a naked body, but I'm not immediately thinking about having sex with them, just a naked body that is raw and accepted as it is. 3. Winter Sports: It is winter for half a year, you've got to do something. 4. Silence: For a Finn, giving another person a moment of refreshment of no-noise and no-contacting is a form of respect. So, drinking coffee or beer quietly together is just a rare moment of bliss in the busy universe of ours and it is such a novelty to get to experience it together. But I get that for other more noisy cultures it can be experienced as a pain in the ass. 5. Rules: I cherish the moment when the walking guy goes red when there is not a car in sight - it is a moment for me to pause as well, maybe stretch a little, center myself, smile at the person beside me waiting for the guy to go green again. My grandparents and parents taught me: there is not such a hurry that you should go against the sign that asks you to pause.

I remember my English teacher from uk who lived in the same building as I learning cross country skiing. He would skii few meters and then slide back at where he started and then start all over again. I thought that was a good method.

Hi there! As a Finn I have been treated with these differend Finland related reaction videos of yours and I really like them! And I just noticed that magnificent picture of some sort of elk or maybe even reindeer on the top shelf, left side. Is that a real painting or a print? And what is is called? Where can I find it? Because for some odd reason it tickles my braind just the correct way.

On traffic lights pedestrians can press button/hover hand next to the thing on the pole to get them turn green faster, most of traffic lights have them.

Eddie Edwards and Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen have some interesting similarities. While Eddie is considered as the worst ski jumper ever, Matti is considered as the best (Matti Nykaenen vs Eddie The Eagle Edwards), both are legends, movie has been made of both of them (Matti (2006) Trailer, Eddie the Eagle Official Trailer), both have recorded songs (Eddie Edwards - Fly Eddie Fly), also in Finnish (Eddie Edwards - Mun nimeni on Eetu, Matti Nykänen - Vain mäkimies voi tietää sen), songs have been made of both them too (Sleepy Sleepers - Nykäsen Matti, Taron Egerton - Thrill Me) and characters based on them share a scene in a movie (although Matti didn't speak English and wasn't happy that his permission for the scene wasn't asked) (Eddie the eagle - Escena elevador - Sub español). Matti's album sold gold and Eddie's song was no 2 on Finnish chart.

Yes you can see how much taxable money people get. For me for example it shows really low income even though I actually earn quite a bit. I've never checked on anyone how much taxable money they earn. I simply don't care at all.

I check only average statistics from our tax publications, like how much my age, same career, average earnings. Then maybe see randomly some celebs taxes

For transparency. Never looked except when I literally had to write a speeding tickets when I still worked as uniformed police 😂

So I live in Lapland, Rovaniemi and here are my thoughts. I have no idea how much money any of my neighbors make, or most of my friends for that matter. It's not really usually a topic of discussion and most Finns don't care about that kind of status, generally. People may know that someone makes more money than them, or less, but it doesn't affect our lives much here. Nudity is a pretty fun cultural oddity. I have a lot of friends from all over the world and they're always asking me about it when they first hear that we actually go naked. Sometimes even to mixed saunas. I just always try to explain that a sauna here is a place of relaxation, contemplation and conversation, we don't usually look at people while we're having a sauna, except their faces when we talk to them. I also think we have a very realistic way of looking at the human body, since we see it in it's full glory from basically infancy, it leads to self acceptance and also being more comfortable around others. We have nudity and sexual nudity, which are separate based on context and the relationship. There's definitely a level of silence that may be uncomfortable to people, but I don't think I've personally ever been in a pub here where everyone is just quiet. I don't know if it's the establishments I frequent or what, but I'm very extroverted and I even if I don't get uncomfortable in silence I do like to have a constant energy and conversation going. If it was silent like that, I'd definitely notice. As quiet and solemn as us Finns can be, when we want to have fun we do it with intent and conviction. Bring on the karaoke and drinking games. Rule following is very big here. I'm definitely the kind of person that waits for the light to turn green even if there are no cars. I'd feel a bit awkward crossing the street in a red light if someone saw me. There is common sense to it though. If it's night time and I can't even hear any cars and it's dark where you can easily see headlights from a distance, I'll cross the road if it takes too long. The same thing goes to basic common courtesy in any situation where there's social etiquette. If I'm in a grocery line, I try to accommodate the person behind me by being efficient and making sure I get a divider for our groceries because I'm probably closer to it than they are. I'm a smoker and I try to avoid people if I'm walking for an example so they don't have to be near the smoke. It's little things here and there where you just show other people that you respect their time and personal space. Nothing much to say about the winter sports other than "Torilla tavataan!", cheers from Finland! 😂

In big or even "biggest" cities, basically everyone walks through a red light if there's no cars coming. I don't know how it is in the small ones, but I think it's the same..

In USA, those silent moments have a thing that angel fly above. In russia,they sead militia born.

If you cross when red man is on and police sees you, you can technically get 10€ fine. But that very rarely happens. There is more bigger fishies to catch.

BS! The taxes are not high, especially if you're rich! There are a billion deductions you can make to the point that you almost pay no taxes in the end! Yes the highest tax rate is 56% but you'd have to make over 200 000€ per MONTH to get anywhere close to that. And like I said, with that much earnings you have a billion deductions! Also, most people making over 100 000€ pay capital gains taxes, not income taxes. Capital gains taxes are much lower than income taxes.

@casteliero

7 ай бұрын

That’s BS! If you make 250000€ in a YEAR, then you have 52% tax rate already. And capital gains ain’t MUCH lower. Capital cains taxes are 30% till 30000€ and after that 34%. That’s higher than basic capital gains taxes in most countries.

@DR_REDACTED

7 ай бұрын

Not a Finn eh? (Or just a very dumb one)

@js0988

7 ай бұрын

@@DR_REDACTED Käy urpo verolaskurilla ja kokeile saatko edes miljoona vuodessa palkalla yli 50%!

Not really checking anyone's income - and don't they these days publish only like the high earners? In my childhood there was actually this little booklet published in the countryside where we lived where you could see everyone's income and as my parents were not high earners it was kind of embarrasing but that was ages ago, and I remember it only very dimly. Such weird practice.

Taxes. Yeah, they are public - which means you can go to tax-office (whatever it's called) and look out anybodys taxes. But. You need their ID number (social security number). And that's something you aren't supposed to tell anybody but authorities and when buying something big, like a house..

All of those things were pretty spot on. Most of the time I see these lists they kinda make me roll my eyes with how nonsensical the points are actually. Maybe these are spot on because the list is pretty small. Rules are a little weird one to me, Im Finnish and I gotta admit that at times it feels weird to just wait for green lights if there are no cars anywhere... that is definitely one that I have to agree of being something to freak out about. xD

All nordic countries announce salaries in public.

The UK has a shockingly bad National Health Service which is grinding to a halt. Education is also incredibly bad with very large class sizes in the Public School system with a demoralised labour force and disinterested students. Also, university education is no longer free and students seem to expect results even though they put little effort into study because they pay for their tuition.

The high taxes we pay, is for the benefit of everyone living in this country, so that's fine. Absolutely no complaints there. Our high standard of living is the result of high taxes. Otherwise we wouldn't have it. However, if you earn more than 100K euros per year, then your name is publicly listed alongside the fact of how much you actually earned the previous year. That does not serve any beneficial purpose whatsoever. On the contrary, that is valuable information to the criminals only. Normal, honest people do not need to know how much you earn. Only criminals are interested. I'll put it to you, what's the benefit of that? That's one of the few rare things I hate about Finland. Absolutely hate. Because that's just stupid and won't make any sense at all. Finnish people are practical and logical - and this thing is neither. About sauna and nudity. It really is not a big deal. Sauna in Finland is such a hellishly hot place anyways, that you won't be paying any attention of being naked - nor you would care anybody else being naked around you - and vice versa. It might take couple of goes, but you'll soon find out that there's absolutely nothing sexual about it. It's more like surviving the goddamn heat. About winter sports and Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. First of all, I highly - highly - respect Eddie Edwards. Absolutely amazing guy. If you think about what he did - being an total amateur ski jumper without any proper training...he must have been just incredibly, incredibly brave. It takes balls of steel to do what he did. I'll always remember him. Word of an advise by the way; don't try to copy him. You'll most likely die or get seriously injured. It really is very dangerous. It truly is. No joke. So don't go ski jumping without proper training and coaching. About silence. We are not always silent, but when we are... I can tell that we feel comfortable of being silent with our friends. If you can be calm and silent with your friends, that actually means you are accepting them as they are - and vice versa. It's a Zen-like moment, if you know what I mean. And finally my thoughts about abiding by the rules. For example, crossing the road when the red light is on, even there's no cars in sight...Ok, there might be no cars in sight, but what if there are young children around. They see what you do, and children learn by imitating adults. Those young kids think that's it's OK to cross the road when the red light's on (because adults do it), and one day they might get killed, because they can't judge distances and speeds of vehicles like we adults can. So don't be a bad example to kids. What if no one is watching? Can you then do the jaywalk? Well, here's a thought...One philosopher long time ago said "Integrity and morality is measured by the things you do when no one is watching".

I must disagree us having a "fantastically" functioning health service. Yes, it is free at the point of use, but you might have to queue for it for months, unless you can prove it is an emergency. I had once to queue over half a year because I had a respiratory tract infection that wouldn't cure by itself. Every two months or so I was sent to a new examination, but I didn't get to meet a doctor. When I finally had the appointment, I was already so tired and in bad shape, that I was 15 minutes late, and they wouldn't let me to meet the doctor, and offered a new appointment after a month. I said no thank you, and went to a private doctor. I had, and still have, quite low incomes, so I couldn't actually afford it, but I got an appointment next day, the doctor examined me himself, it all took perhaps 10 minutes, and he then gave me a prescription, and I was cured in a week. So Finland isn't that paradise that some think. Yes, there is a possibility to free health care - if you are still alive when it's your time in the queue to receive it.

@RustFox

7 ай бұрын

The sad truth of the matter is that in many places folks don't even have what we have. Wait times and such vary wildly depending on what your issue is and where you are geographically, true, but in many places people don't have any access to medical help. It's kinda like when Finns complain about trains being trash here while some foreigners are shocked about how reliable the public transport is. All depends on what you're comparing things to.

@patrickuotinen

7 ай бұрын

@@RustFox I'm not interested if there are people who have it even worse, if I don't get help when I need it. It isn't "fantastic" no matter how bad it is in some developing country.

@RustFox

7 ай бұрын

@@patrickuotinen People not caring about others who need help is exactly why it's hard to get help. 👍🏻 Good luck with that tho

@patrickuotinen

7 ай бұрын

@@RustFox nicely twisted, b.

@Larvanto53

2 ай бұрын

The main problem here is that people who think they need medical attention when they actually dont are overwhelming the healthcare system. Google + (almost) free services = overloaded system.

I find it strange that pay and capital income are public but social benefits are not. Maybe it would cause a public outcry if taxpayers knew how much money certain free-riders get.